


Inside Joke

by CoreaStories



Category: King of Eternity, The King: Eternal Monarch, 더 킹：영원의 군주 | The King: Eternal Monarch (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, control room shenanigans, show canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24825991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreaStories/pseuds/CoreaStories
Summary: The inside story on Gon and Tae-Eul’s “melodrama.”Domestic fluff. Sometimes you just need your pairing at home, in pajamas, cuddling. Especially if they're royal weekenders across time.As seen on Tumblr: CoreaStories #CoreaFictionWith images: drag mobile screen a bit to the left to enjoy
Relationships: Jeong Tae Eul/Lee Gon
Comments: 10
Kudos: 119





	Inside Joke

Gon knew immediately that things weren’t right when he came out of the obelisks and saw Tae-eul’s face. She had that sullen expression she wore back when she thought he was a ridiculous bum with a costume and a horse and without a home. 

“What’s wrong?” He took her hand and it was a little warm. Almost without thought his feet moved to lead her back to her world, to get her somewhere secure and safe. 

She let him lead her, still looking sullen. “My back hurts. This happens every month. Why couldn’t it have happened during the week?”

They drove to Seoul in silence. She kept fidgeting in her seat trying to get comfortable. Once at their long-term lease in the hotel, Tae-eul stomped inside the suite and promptly dropped on the couch. 

“What do you need? I’ll get it for you.” 

“I already took my medicine,” she said, closing her eyes and dropping her arm across her face. “It really works, but it takes a while. I don’t get miserable by choice, you know.” 

Gon saw pink creep up from her neck to her partially obscured face, so he knew he wasn’t the only one struck by the double meaning behind her words. 

“All right, we don’t have to leave. We can stay here.” 

Still covering her face with her arm, she nodded. With her free hand, she patted the space on the sofa. He smiled automatically and answered the summons of that simple, soft gesture. He scooped her up and sat down, settling her head and shoulders on his lap. 

He reached for the remote controls for the air and diffusers. He wasn’t sure if he should humidify– would that help? But he did so anyway. For scent, he chose eucalyptus. He felt her relax further against him. 

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that. He was occupied with stroking her hair, digging his fingers in to massage her scalp. Her right arm came up to hug him loosely, her hand patting his lower back, and he smiled again. He lived for these affectionate touches and he’d missed her all week. 

“Do you want to go to bed? Is your medicine making you drowsy?”

She finally removed her arm from her face, and Gon held back his amusement. The fabric of her sleeve had left deep, weird wrinkles across her cheeks. 

“No. Yes,” she said. “But I’m good.” 

“Yes, you are. You’re adorable. Does this always happen at your time of the month?” 

She swatted him on the knee. “Don’t talk about it.”

“I just wanted to know if you have any other discomfort.”

“Just my back. I’m lucky. Na-ri has it way worse with cramps.” 

He winced. “What do you want to eat?” 

“Ramyeon. Don’t get fancy. We have some in the pantry. Just add boiling water and then come back here.” 

He scoffed. At the very least, he’d add eggs and scallions. And he knew they always had kimchi. He gently levered her off his lap, got up, and then propped a pillow to replace his thigh. She bent her knees and struggled to move a pillow underneath them, so he took care of that. 

Then he bent and kissed her on the forehead, and then the cheek, and because she looked adorable, went ahead and kissed her on the lips, too. She responded sleepily, but he felt both her arms slide up around his shoulders. 

He always felt this magnetic pull toward Tae-eul’s lips, and he answered that pull as much as he could on their time together. 

* * *

Empty bowls of ramyeon sat on the coffee table. A romantic comedy movie– or was it a series?– was playing on the TV. Tae-eul felt full. Too full. She didn’t get cramps, but she still got that achy pressure in her lower belly, and she got bloated with gas, whatever she ate. Slurping ramyeon didn’t help matters. 

She and Gon were back in their original position earlier. After eating, she simply slid down onto her back on the sofa, pillowing her head and shoulder on Gon’s right thigh. Gon had his right arm across her chest– and she wished she’d removed her jacket. Why on earth was she still wearing her jacket? 

She felt Gon’s hand move from her shoulder to her hand. “What is it?” he asked. “You said you don’t get cramps?”

Tae-eul realized she’d been rubbing her belly. 

“It’s gas.” 

As she wanted and expected, Gon laughed. She loved hearing him laugh. 

But she wasn’t about to make him laugh by making him hear her letting out her gas. She got up. She should take another dose of her medicine anyway. It worked best for her when she overlapped them. 

In the bathroom, she showered and changed into her third favorite pajamas– cotton blend, soft like silk, dark, safe and sturdy enough for stain removal, if any. She could already feel her drowsiness setting in, and she barely had any discomfort any longer. Good. 

She found Gon in the bedroom, also changed into his own silk pajamas. He was sitting against the headboard, reading glasses on. When he saw her in the doorway, he promptly put his book down and folded back the covers for her. 

Crawling in, she wrapped her arm around him and nestled against his side. He smelled wonderful, distinguishable from the eucalyptus permeating the entire suite. This is what she missed every day they weren’t together, this closeness, the feel of him against her, beside her. 

It was making her tear up. Cursed hormones. 

She turned to the TV. At some point, Gon had turned it on, volume low. It was the same show he’d also chosen in the living room. 

They watched for awhile, Tae-eul waiting for her drowsiness to turn into sleep, but hovering in between instead. Gon’s hand moved from her hair to her nape, up and down her back and arm, dipping into her waist and caressing her belly, hypnotizing her. 

“Why can’t we have that?” she heard herself say. “Even Yeong can have that. He’s not actually an indentured slave, is he?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean that.” She nodded toward the TV, where the male and female leads just made a high five across the space between their desks. “I wish we can see each other whenever we like. I wish I could just barge into your house and catch you with your pile of smelly socks.”

“Smelly socks?” The timbre of his voice was low, amused and annoyed at the same time. She grinned. He was easy to rile. 

But her mind and mouth were on a different tangent. “I wish we just worked together or something. Why couldn’t you be a cop? In my world?” 

His hand gave a gentle squeeze on her waist. “I’m a pilot in this world.” 

“Why do we have to be in a melodrama story? Why can’t it be a thriller or romantic comedy? We could have a disrupter, a… a… an antagonist, isn’t that what they’re called… and we defeat or defy the antagonist and that’s it. We win. It’s gonna be a blockbuster. I’d watch it tons of times.” 

Gon had curled his body toward her now, peering at her face over the rim of his glasses to see if she was all right, or perhaps just to see her, to meet her eyes with his. “We did win,” he said, watching her intently.

And she couldn’t say anything much except, “I love you.” 

He kissed her on the forehead, pressing his lips there for several seconds. “I love you. Go to sleep.” 

“No.” 

He laughed. 

* * *

Gon met Tae-eul as she came out of the bathroom, fully dressed. He blinked. 

“Is your back better?”

“Yes,” she said, a little sheepishly. “I’m fine. I feel really good.” She walked to the island and brought him the mug of coffee standing ready there. It was still hot. “Let’s not waste this weekend.” 

So they didn’t. This time the drive to the bamboo grove was filled with conversation. Her father. Jangmi. The newbie. Na-ri and Eun-sup and the twins. 

He watched her and he was happy to see she really was feeling better, without any sign of discomfort. 

“Let me take your backpack.” 

“No. I’m fine with it.” 

Then he saw the lights. Beams of 1200 lumens cutting through the gloom of the evening. 

He almost laughed when she tucked herself to hide inside his coat. This was going to be one of those interesting days. And it was. 

The revelations about Yeong were swept from his mind as he watched and listened to her repeat what she’d said last night. She was telling him she didn’t mean it, or meant it but wasn’t angry about it. She loved him and wouldn’t trade their situation–such as it was– for any alternative. This was their destiny. She was his, and he was hers. 

It was quick work to lift her onto the desk so she wouldn’t strain her back. 

She was already smiling, lifting her face sweetly up to his. They understood each other. 

Like her always saying no when he tells her to go to sleep, this would be another inside joke. “Melodrama.” 

And maybe “control tower” too. 

* * *

The show they watch: The Office (US). Pam and Jim epic high-fiving. 


End file.
